This invention relates to mobile, modular furniture, and, more particularly, relates to means for releasably anchoring movable furniture cabinets for use typically in modular laboratory cabinet systems.
In the furniture industry, sectional and combination units have been employed to provide flexibility in use and conservation of floor space. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,905, wheeled furniture units have been developed which can employ ramped wheel stops for combination bed and lounge mattress units which are movable to alternative positions. Similar disclosure in U.S. Pat. No. 3,055,017 teaches a convertible bed structure in which a wheeled bed can be retracted to a position partially beneath a table and employ upwardly extending projections arranged to block movement of the wheel from the retracted position.
Modular furniture typically employed in industrial and educational scientific laboratories is constructed as separate mobile sections, such as wheeled cabinets, which provide individual work bench countertops for flexible arrangement of the units. Similar modular laboratory furniture is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,356,434 which teaches that individual, wheeled laboratory cabinets placed for use in abutment with the wall of a utility bulkhead or other units can be immobilized by vertical adjustment, particularly using pawl and ratchet operated cams, to lift the support wheels of the unit from the floor and engage connectors formed on the modular unit and the abutment.
According to this invention, a structural arrangement for individual modular furniture units provides a continuous work bench or countertop for multiple units which eliminates interruptions in the work surface between adjoining units. The invention provides a structure which maintains the units in conveniently secured placement while allowing convenient release for rearrangement of the units.